As is well known, rear end collisions between motor vehicles are extremely dangerous even when the vehicles are of roughly equal size and have roughly equal safety features. However, as is also well known, when one of the colliding vehicles is much smaller or has less safety features than the other colliding vehicle, that smaller vehicle is much more likely to suffer substantially greater damage than the other colliding vehicle. Collisions between large and small cars are examples of this disadvantageous situation.
As bad as such collisions are, however, a collision involving a car and a motorcycle is much more dangerous than nearly any collision between cars since the motorcycle is generally much smaller than the car and is not nearly as well equipped to protect the rider. The more absence of a roof places the motorcycle rider at a severe disadvantage vis a vis the enclosed automobile in such collisions. Accordingly, the dangers of motorcycle riding have been well documented.
One of the dangers inherent with a motorcycle is the rear brake light placement of such vehicle. Obviously, the rear brake lights of any vehicle act as a deterrent to rear end collisions. Since any collision involving a motorcycle and another vehicle, especically an automobile, should be avoided, the rear end collision should be avoided if at all possible.
To this end, it has been observed that the placement of a motorcycle brake light on the rear fender of the motorcycle is deficient since it is not placed in the most visible location for a following automobile. Accordingly, there have been designs for locating the motorcycle brake light on the helmet of the rider, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,373, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Other proposals have included lights connected to the brake light of the vehicle by quick-disconnected means, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,586 and flashing lights on the helmet, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,492.
However, while these proposals have been somewhat successful in raising the brake signal light above the level of the rear bumper, these patented designs still fall short in several important areas for fully protecting the motorcycle rider.
For example, due to the extreme danger to the motorcyclist, a very accurate reading of his precise forward velocity condition should be afforded so the following vehicles can be warned even if the motorcyclist simply slows down as even a slight rear end "tap" by a motor vehicle to a motorcycle may be fatal to the motorcyclist. Presently known motorcycle helmet lights do not provide such accurate information, but only signal when the brakes are applied.
The use of brake lights only does not set the cycle off from other vehicles thereby failing to provide a special alert for the following motorist.
Still further, the known helmet lights use either the cycle power or battery power. Such single source lights may leave the motorcyclist unprotected should his cycle motor shut off.
Accordingly, there is a need for a motorcycle brake light that provides highly accurate information as to the precise condition of the motorcycle's forward speed in a highly visible, highly noticeable and highly reliable manner.